Senior coach Justin Longmuir hopes to see Fremantle being judged on their performance instead of their potential in 2021.
In an interview on Fox Footy’s AFL Tonight, Longmuir agreed that it was accurate that Fremantle were viewed as a developing team, but added that he wasn’t happy with the tag.
“It (potential) is (an accurate description) because we haven’t delivered,” Longmuir told Fox Footy.
“Potential is a bad word, we’d rather be judged on our performances on the field.
“We want to be a team that performs week in week out no matter the expectation on us. We’ve got to earn the accolades and that’s what we’re going to try and set out to do.”
Longmuir said that expectations will increase on players as they gain experience at AFL level, with the likes of Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra entering their fourth season.
“It probably takes three, four or five years until you feel really comfortable at AFL level,” Longmuir said.
“I’ve seen some really solid improvements from all of our young players and it stems from having great attitudes and purpose towards their training.
“We’re going to see some inconsistencies with those young players at times but I feel like they’re ready to take ownership of certain areas of the ground and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can deliver.”
Longmuir said that Fremantle’s plan for captain Nat Fyfe on game days wouldn’t change in the wake of the injury to forward/ruck Rory Lobb.
Fyfe is set to play predominately in the midfield with periods forward providing Freo can stay on top in the middle.
“We always plan to play him as a split between the forward and the midfield and I’ve always said that we want him where he can do the most damage,” Longmuir said.
“If we feel like we’re handling the midfield and getting good supply to our forward line then he’s going to be most damaging in the forward line but if we’re not getting it down there he’s going to do most of his work in the midfield.
“That doesn’t really change with the loss of Rory Lobb, having another player down in the forward line who can give us a strong contest is going to be important, so he’ll play an important role in both areas of the ground.”
